Chapter 14
by SilverMidnight1
Summary: I had to rewrite a chapter of Mockingbird for english and I thought you all would like to look at it. It's chapter fourteen rewritten as Dill, if you like it I will write more!


"Brrrriiiiing!" The alarm clock insisted at me, demanding my attention, and signaling the painful hour of daybreak. Today was setting out to be a long sojourn, the day I'd be leaving this place in search of...shall we say, higher grounds.  
  
I silently wisped out of bed, as not to wake my inconstant surveyors -as if they'd care if they caught me anyways. I stole away to the dresser on tiptoe incase, for a change the afore spoken negligent ones were indeed a foot.  
  
I dressed quickly and placed the thirteen dollars I had asked for from my parents yesterday (neither of them thought a thing of it) in my back pocket. I stealthily snuck out of the house, an enigma to any and all who may have beheld.  
  
Free of the house and all it entailed, I traipsed across the street and down the lane, light of foot and mind. Carefree, I took frequent and lengthy rests and arrived at the train station around eight-thirty. I stepped up to the counter and in my most practiced and proper English I said;  
  
"I'd like a ticket for the nine o clock to Maycomb Junction please sir."  
  
"Do you have some money young man?" The tall lanky cashier asked me. I nodded and swiftly pulled out the wad of crumpled cash from my pocket and handed it to him. He had a slight smile on his face as he unfolded and unscrambled the bills and laid them all out on the counter. He took all of my thirteen dollars, leaving me broke for at least the rest of the day. The tall man gave me the ticket and I went over to a small group of chairs and sat down to wait for the train and my trip to freedom.  
  
I fell in and out of sleep, until finally the train arrived; I had never realized how long a half an hour could really be, especially when you have nothing to do.  
  
I boarded the train, the same on I usually take earlier in the summer, and told the conductor a little white lie about going to Maycomb later this year, I can't quite remember exactly what excuse I used.  
  
I stepped off of the train about two hours after I boarded. From there I had to make a decision, did I try to catch a ride on the front roads and risk getting caught or did I walk the back roads. I chose the back roads, not wanting to have spent all my time and money to wind up in Meridian again.  
  
I walked for hours and hours on end, tripping on every stone, falling in every ditch, and sloshing in every puddle. Dinnertime came and went, as did my hunger, having a dependency on food can be a dangerous thing. As dinner passed and supper neared, I grew hungrier and hungrier, and weaker and weaker. I dared to place my foot on some of the more residential side roads, and discovered I was on the outskirts of the next county over from Maycomb. A wagon drove by and stopped, and I crawled under and latched on for dear life, it wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than walking some more.  
  
As the wagon hobbled along on the dirt covered roads, I kept my grip tight while being coated in mud, slosh and dirt. I also caught the sent of something that was once bovine in nature and was now fly food.  
  
We finally passed into town and right in front of the office of Mr. B. B. Underwood. I let go of the wagon, to land in an overgrown pothole in the road filled with dirt and dust and a little bit of that bovine substance. The dirt and dust swirled up around me and fell back down again like a huge cloud engulfing the earth.  
  
I coughed up the dirt for a second, while sitting there to catch my breath. I heaved back and forth, emptying and refilling my lungs as quickly as physically possible.  
  
I looked up and saw Jem and Scout walking by I was going to approach them, but decided against it as Atticus was no more than 3 feet away from them. I flew around the corner and turned back to see Atticus's face. He looked like he had seen or heard something but wasn't quite sure what.  
  
I walked around the other side of town and avoided them, using the long way to get around to their house. I snuck in the back door, and silently passed Aunt Alexandra in her room.  
  
I heard the door creak open and I flew into Scout's room and under her bed. They all had supper while I listened intently and hungrily to all the sounds of food and eating. After a while I fell asleep. I awoke much later to the sound of Scout yelling at Jem.  
  
"Jee crawling hova, Jem! Who do you think you are?" She hollered.  
  
"Now I mean it, Scout, you antagonize Aunty and I'll-I'll spank you!" I was flabbergasted. Jem? Defending the adults? I didn't understand, something must have happened while I was gone. Obviously Scout was appalled as I when she screamed;  
  
"You damn morphodite, I'll kill you!" I heard many different noises, of Scout launching herself at Jem, and of Jem fighting back. I was debating to come out or not, so I kept listening. "Ain't so high and mighty now, are you?!"  
  
I was getting out from under the bed when I heard another voice and froze instantaneously. "That's all," It was Atticus. "Both of you go to bed right now."  
  
"Taah!" I heard Scout yell, always the one to get the last word in. The last word. Scout would be coming to bed within the minute. This brought me back to reality. I began to wriggle back under the bed as quickly as possible.  
  
"Who started it?" I heard Atticus ask solemnly.  
  
"Jem did. He was tryin' to tell me what to do. I don't have to mind him now, do I?" I almost laughed, but I could nearly hear the smile on Atticus's face.  
  
"Let's leave it at this: you mind Jem when ever he can make you. Fair enough?" Atticus said, and this time I let out the faintest chuckle. Luckily, no one heard me. I heard a mumble that sounded female in nature; I figured it was Aunt Alexandra. It couldn't have been too important.  
  
I heard Jem say "Night Scout" as she walked in the room.  
  
"Night." She said as she shut the adjoining door between the two rooms. She walked by and I realized my hands were still sticking out from under the bed. She stepped on one of my hands just as I yanked it back. She flipped on the light and tapped on Jem's door.  
  
"What?" I heard him say.  
  
"How does a snake feel?" Scout asked.  
  
"Sort of rough. Cold. Dusty. Why?" He asked.  
  
"I think there's one under my bed. Can you come look?" She asked him. I nearly broke out laughing, but lately Jem seemed...different lately, so I stayed quiet.  
  
"Are you bein' funny" Jem asked. He entered the room in his pajama pants; I saw marks on him where Scout must've hit him. "If you think I'm gonna put my face down to a snake you've got another thing coming." Hmmm, I thought, maybe I'll bite him when I see him.  
  
"You reckon it's really one?" She asked. I don't.  
  
Jem left the room and a couple of minutes later he had returned with the broom. Jem swiped under the bed and nearly hit me.  
  
"Ungh." I grunted and scooched away.  
  
"Do snakes grunt?" Scout asked. I didn't know if they grunted but I was pretty sure they wouldn't chuckle though, which is why I refrained from it myself.  
  
"It ain't a snake," Jem said. "It's somebody." Finally he realized it. Well, I was busted so I shot out the only things I brought with me out from under the bed, and wiggled out my self.  
  
Jem nearly hit me with the broom on my way out but missed by an inch.  
  
"God Almighty." Jem said. I wiggled out as they watched, it was a tight fit, and I don't know how I fit under the first time. I stood up and moved all of my joints and sockets a bit, getting rid of the cramped feeling.  
  
"Hey" I said. Jem said something to God I'm not sure I'm allowed to repeat. "I'm `bout to perish," I said. "Got anything to eat?"  
  
Scout fetched me some cornbread and milk, and while I ate she found her voice. "How'd you get here?" She asked.  
  
I hesitated for a moment, what was I supposed to tell them? I span a long tale about being stuck in my parents' basement, and them abusing me and me being fed green beans through a vent. I told them I worked myself free and walked out of Meridian and joined an animal circus. I traveled with them until my "infallible sense of direction" told me I was in Abbott County, Alabama. I supposedly walked the rest of the way.  
  
"How'd you get here?" Jem asked.  
  
This time I explained my actual trip, excluding the detail that it had only taken place this morning and afternoon.  
  
"They must not know you're here," Jem said. "We'd know if they we're lookin' for you."  
  
"Think they're still searchin' all the picture shows in Meridian." I said smiling.  
  
"You oughta let your mother know where you are," Jem began, as I feared. "You oughta let her know you're here." I looked at Jem, he stared at the floor. The next thing he did I would never forgive him for.  
  
"Atticus, can you come here a minute sir?" Jem called down the hallway. From the look on Scout's face, she was not the only one turning deathly pale. Atticus came to the doorway. He pressed forward into the middle of the room and stood there scrutinizing me. I must have shown my fear on my face because Scout said;  
  
"It's okay Dill. When he wants you to know something, he tells you." I looked at her, not quite comprehending. "I mean it's all right," she said. "You know he wouldn't bother you, you know you ain't scared of Atticus."  
  
"I'm not scared..." I defended. I think the sentence defeated its point.  
  
"Just hungry I'll bet." Atticus said. That man never ceased to amaze me. "Scout we can do better then a pan of cold cornbread, can't we? You fill this poor fellow up and when I get back we'll see what we can see."  
  
I jumped "Mr. Finch, please don't tell Aunt Rachel, don't make me go back, please sir! I'll run off again-!" I pleaded.  
  
"Whoa, son," Atticus cut me off, "Nobody's going to make you go anywhere but to bed pretty soon. I'm just going over to tell Miss Rachel you're here and to ask her if you could spend the night with us - you'd like that, wouldn't you? And for goodness' sake put some of the country back where it belongs, the soil erosion's bad enough as it is." I stood dumbfounded at his last sentence, peering at Atticus.  
  
"He's tryin' to be funny," Scout volunteered. "He means take a bath. See there, I told you he wouldn't bother you."  
  
I glanced at Jem prior to his alibi; he was standing in the corner looking twice as guilty as he should be. "Dill I had to tell him," he pleaded. "You can't run three hundred miles off without your mother knowing."  
  
Scout and I left him, not ready to speak to him yet.  
  
I ate, Scout feeding me for a long time, I was starved, having spent all my money on the ticket and not thinking of having anything at home. I kept eating, filling my gullet. I had reached for a can of pork and beans when I heard Aunt Rachel. I must have been shivering because the can was shaking, until I dropped it on the table.  
  
I sat through the long lecture of the same old things only ten fold. The Wait Till I Get You Home Your Folks Are Out Of Their Minds Worryin'. The That's All The Harris In You Coming Out. And I was quite surprised by the Reckon You Can Stay One Night. I expressed my gratitude with a grand hug which she generously returned.  
  
We all watched Atticus as he pushed his glasses up his nose.  
  
"Your father's tired," She said to Jem and Scout. "You children go to bed now."  
  
We heard Atticus say as we walked out of the room "From rape to riot to runaways," he chuckled "I wonder what the next two hours will bring." I wondered myself.  
  
Scout and I decided to be tolerant of Jem, because everything had turned out okay. I was in Jem's room for a while just reading, still not wanting to talk to Jem, even though we had forgiven him. I fell asleep for a long while and then woke up staring at the ceiling.  
  
I tiptoed into Scout's room and punched her awake. "Move over Scout" I said.  
  
"He thought he had to," I mumbled, "Don't stay mad with him."  
  
I scooched in beside her and lay down. Did I have to be mad at Jem to come in with her? She was my fiancée after all. "I ain't," I said. "I just wanted to sleep with you. Are you waked up?"  
  
"Why'd you do it?" She asked, answering a question with a question. She was awake. I was hesitant. "I said why'd you run off? Was he really hateful like you said?"  
  
"Naw..." I said, if I couldn't tell Scout the truth who could I tell?  
  
"Didn't you ever build that boat like you wrote you were gonna?"  
  
"He just said we would. We never did." Scout rose up on her elbow looking at me questioningly. She didn't quite understand the way I wanted her too.  
  
"It's no reason to run off. They don't get around to doin' what they say they're gonna do half the time..."  
  
"That wasn't it," I protested. "He- they just wasn't interested in me." She was confused, I could tell.  
  
"How come?" She asked.  
  
I tried to explain, "Well, they stayed gone all the time, and when they were home even, they'd get off in a room by themselves."  
  
"What'd they do in there?" She asked. At least she was interested.  
  
"Nothin' just sittin' and readin'-but they didn't want me in there with `em." Scout sat up, pushing her pillow up against the headboard.  
  
"You know something? I was fixin' to run off tonight because they there they all were. You don't want `em around you all the time, Dill-,"  
  
I sighed she just didn't understand. As much as I wanted her too, she just wasn't getting it.  
  
"-good night. Atticus's gone all day and sometimes half the night and off in the legislature and I don't know what- you don't want `em around all the time, Dill, you couldn't do anything if they were."  
  
"That's not it." I tried to explain, and as I kept going, Scout seemed to be only half listening to me; the other half was somewhere else. I wish I knew where, so I could go to. She seemed to float back to reality.  
  
"Dill you ain't tellin' me right-your folks couldn't do without you. They must just be mean to you. Tell you what to do about that-"  
  
I cut her off, determined to make her understand. "The thing is, what I'm trying to say is- they do get on a lot better without me, I can't help them any. They ain't mean. They buy me everything I want, but it's now-you've-got-it-go-play-with-it. I've got a whole roomful of things. I-got-you-that-book-now-go-and-read-it." I deepened my voice, imitating my father, "You're not a boy. Boys play baseball with other boys; they don't hang around the house worrying their folks." I relaxed my voice and took a deep breath. I sighed. "Oh they ain't mean. They kiss you and hug you good night and good morning and goodbye and they tell you they love you-Scout, let's get us a baby." I said, voicing my idea. I t was brilliant I had just thought it up as I spoke.  
  
"Where?" She asked.  
  
I explained about a man on a bout who got them from a misty gray island and that we could get one from there. It would be simple.  
  
"That's a lie." Scout protested. "Aunty says God drops `em down the chimney, at least that's what I think she said."  
  
"Well that ain't so." I said. "You get babies from each other. But there's this man too-he has all these babies just waitin' to breathe life into `em..." I spun a lengthy tale of the man and the island of babies, lulling Scout to sleep I think. The story may be false, but Scout didn't have to know that, and it was a pretty story any ways.  
  
When I was nearly asleep Scout spoke.  
  
"Dill?"  
  
"Mm?" I answered.  
  
"Why do you reckon Boo Radley's never run off?" She asked. I focused all the focus someone has minutes before they pass into la la land.  
  
I sighed and turned in the bed "Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to run off to..." 


End file.
